House Democratic leadership on Tuesday urged members to vote with their conscience on a controversial amendment to cut U.S. funding for Israel, underscoring deep divisions in the caucus over America’s relations with the Jewish state.
Fiscal hawk Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) sponsored the amendment, seeking to add it to a national security and State Department spending bill that is expected to come up for a vote this week. The text of Massie’s amendment says none of the funds of the act will be made available for Israel and lowers overall spending in the bill by $3.3 billion.
After a Democratic caucus meeting in which Massie’s bill was a focus of debate, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) expressed shock at the fraught conversations around Israel in his conference.
“I’ve been around a long time, I’ve never seen it,” he said.
Thompson said conversations centered around Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, and noted deeply negative views of the long-time Israeli leader among young, Democratic voters.
Many of these voters have adopted a view that Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, launched after the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack, amounted to a campaign of genocide against Palestinians living there. Congressional Democrats have also raised urgent concern over Israel’s policies towards Palestinians in the West Bank.